Being The Schools Nerd: The Bullied, The Misunderstood, The Unloved

Chapter Eighteen/Gale

  "It's strange how many ways there are to miss someone. You miss the things they did and who they were, but you also miss who you were to them. The way everything you said and did was beautiful or entertaining or important. How much you mattered."
― Robin Roe, A list of cages   

 

"Where are we?" I asked Dean as we got out the car 

"It's an old childhood place," he replied as he locked the car. 

He took my hand in his large one and lead me through a small field. 

"Is this where you kill me and hide my body?" I asked jokingly 

Dean laughed, "No but thanks for the advice," he said with a grin 

"Okay, so what are we really doing here?" I asked 

"I just wanted to spend some time alone with you. You know, without your four big brothers hovering over you and me," he said with a chuckle 

We walked into a small playground with a broken down slide and a few still standing swings. 

"A playground?" I asked confused

"Yeah, come let's sit," he pointed at the two swings. 

I shrugged and followed. 

"Here," he handed me over a bottle of whiskey. I didn't remember seeing him bring one with him.  

I looked down at it and debated whether or not to drink it. 

"It will keep you warm," he said as he handed it to me. I took a gulp and flinched at the strong taste. 

Dean chuckled and took a swing of the bottle 

"You know I use to come here a lot when I was a kid," he said with a small smile 

I looked around at the old, rusty, broken down playground. 

"Well, it looked a lot nicer back then. Gosh I'm making myself sound so old," he laughed 

I smiled at him, "with your parents?" I asked 

"Huh, oh no. I didn't have parents. Well, I did have biological parents but I never met them," he corrected. 

"You didn't have parents?" I asked confused 

He shook his head 

"Then with who did you live with?" I asked 

"For a few years in the foster system. Was in there since I could remember. All they ever told me was that I was left at the door with nothing but a bottle and the clothes on my back," he took a swing of the bottle 

"No note?" I asked 

He shook his head, "guess I wasn't good enough for my folks to even leave a message," he sighed and looked away

"I'm so sorry to hear that Dean," I whispered 

"Nah, it's all good. The foster system wasn't the best and it was hard seeing all those kids getting picked and watching your friends leave but I knew that I wasn't a type of person that was meant for a family," he drank again, "I liked it though, the freedom, no parents, no rules." 

I could tell that he was lying. I could see the pain in his eyes. 

"What did you do in there?" I asked 

He laughed, "I would mostly pull pranks on the ladies there, or sneak out with friends or just come here." 

"I'm guessing they all wanted to kill you there," I said giggling